Opening of Superyacht Culinary academy to feed skills into key growth sector

STATEMENT BY THE CITY’S MAYORAL COMMITTEE MEMBER FOR ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES AND ASSET MANAGEMENT, ALDERMAN JAMES VOS.

Today I have the pleasure of officiating at the grand opening of the New Superyacht Training Academy in the V&A Waterfront.

Two companies, Superyacht Culinary Academy that will train chefs to work on yachts and Stir Crazy Cooking School that offers training classes, recently moved into a new space at the V&A Waterfront called the Superyacht Training Academy. The space includes a training showroom and the Stir Crazy Culinary Theatre.

As a City, we want to create the right kind of environment for businesses to grow, especially in sectors where there is potential for impressive expansion.  One of the ways in which the City helps create the right conditions for growth is by investing in skills that our people can use to find employment in sectors that are poised to take off. This is a major feature of my vision and a key aspect of my department’s strategy.

A great example is the Cape Skills and Employment Accelerator Project that is funded by the City of Cape Town and the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The City is the first Municipality to receive funding from the National Skills Fund to kick-start the project. The first phase will see some 3 300 learners being trained and provided with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and clothing and textiles sectors.

By providing people with the skills that businesses need and establishing skills pipelines in high growth sectors, we aim to increase the likelihood of permanent job placement.

My team has also identified the boat building and marine manufacturing sectors as key to unlocking the ocean economy in Cape Town. These sectors have a massive potential to facilitate accelerated economic growth, job creation and economic inclusion through skills development.

Cape Town is the second-largest producer of recreational catamarans in the world, after France. The city’s 40 plus shipyards export 80% of the items produced and exports have grown by 20% year-on-year since 2014.

The sector directly employs over 5 120 artisans, carpenters, engineers, and nautical architects. Thousands more work in secondary industries that provide materials and components to shipyards across Cape Town.

My priority is to ensure that we continue to be the go-to city on the African continent and globally for business and trade. A key part of this is to ensure we train people for jobs, not just for the sake of training. Skills need to be aligned with our high growth sectors, so our city attracts investment which contributes to the local economy and provides job opportunities for the people of Cape Town.